Lawmakers seek nursing cut relief

April 10, 2013

A bipartisan group of Sacramento lawmakers has mounted a campaign to give hospital-based skilled nursing services a financial break in the wake of cuts to Medi-Cal budgets. (Sacramento Bee)

Three prominent Republicans, including Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway of Tulare, have joined Democrats in touting legislation by Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, to restore funding for specific nursing and health care services programs for qualified low-income individuals.

The Medi-Cal program is governed and funded in part by federal Medicaid provisions, and mandated cuts in payments to providers are now taking effect. Alejo’s bill would exempt skilled nursing facilities that are a distinct part of a general acute care hospital.

The bill requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature as it is considered an “urgency statute.”